Preserving Your Legacy and Staying Rooted to Your Purpose Through Challenge and Change | Barley Room

In an industry that’s changing faster than a speeding bullet, how do you stay true to your roots while keeping up with the times?

In this session, we’re digging into what it takes to hold onto what matters when life and business get complicated. Sometimes it all happens at once. And there never seems to be a manual for it, not even a dress rehearsal. We’ll share it from the perspective of a sudden CEO, forced to carry on a long-standing legacy in her business: the strength, the courage, the tears, and yes, the victories too.

Then it’s your turn. We’ll guide you through a reflective session designed to help you reconnect with your own sense of purpose, discover what legacy means in your work, and hold true to those values, even when the ground seems like it’s crumbling under us all.

Chris Alstat | Naturopath, Herbalist & Owner | Eclectic Herb

Chris Alstat, ND, is a New Zealand–trained naturopath/herbalist and the owner of Eclectic Herb, an independent Oregon herbal company founded in 1982. Her work sits at the intersection of traditional herbal knowledge, plant-based health, and the practical realities of growing, sourcing, and making herbal products.

Chris has spent decades working closely with herbs—from the garden and field through formulation, freeze-drying, extraction, manufacturing, and education. She is especially interested in fresh, whole plants, preserving their natural complexity, and the relationship between how an herb is grown and processed and the medicine it ultimately becomes.

Her perspective is shaped by Eclectic Herb’s long history in the Pacific Northwest natural-products community, her Japanese and New Zealand heritage, global travel, and a lifelong connection to plants, gardening, and the natural world.

Mel Mutterspaugh | Herbal Education and Community Relations Manager | Eclectic Herb

Mel Mutterspaugh, Herbal Education and Community Relations Manager for Eclectic Herb, an Oregon-based, woman-owned herbal supplement company.

Mel is a clinical herbalist with over 26 years of experience. She’s passionate about spreading the power of herbal medicine to the people, and spends her days teaching herb-curious folks how to bring plants into their everyday health routines. She also runs her own herbal education platform, The Herbalist’s Path, where she shares practical, plant-based wisdom for everyday wellness.

Before this part of her path, Mel spent 13+ years running Mountain Mel’s Essential Goods, a physical herbal product line she built from the ground up. Much of that was thanks to Provender Alliance and this amazing community! Mel lives in the foothills of Mt. Hood, Oregon, where she loves to get outside, dance like nobody is watching, and hang with her family.